ALTON — A rural Alton woman robbed of her purse at gunpoint Friday night outside the Upper Alton Walgreens drug store said the holdup was both frightening and surreal.

“It was the scariest situation I’ve ever been in,” said the victim, who did not want to be identified in a newspaper article. “It didn’t seem real. He didn’t say anything, there was no talking. He was staring at me, then he pulled a gun out of his jacket and pointed it at me. My first thought was, ‘No, this can’t be happening.’”

The woman, 47, said she had just gotten out of her car on the parking lot, 1650 Washington Ave., to make a quick stop at the store at 8:34 p.m. She said she still had her cellphone and car keys in her hand, but was not looking at her phone or was otherwise distracted at the time.

“I was focused on the store, getting in and out,” she said.

It was then she noticed the man had walked past the front door of the store and was heading toward her.

“He had his eyes on me, then walked faster and faster,” she said. “When he got in front of me, he pulled a gun out and pointed it at me. He tried to get me, I tried to go around a pillar to get away from him, he and I both went around it a couple times.”

The terrified woman then threw down her purse and ran into the store, where an employee called police and comforted her. Since the woman still had her cellphone and keys, all the robber got was credit and debit cards in the purse, and no money.

“It was all cards, I never carry cash,” she said.

The robber fled the area on foot. Alton police, including a canine unit, were unable to locate the suspect after that first incident.

The victim said she frequently shops at the drugstore and never expected to be robbed. She contacted the Telegraph because she wanted people to know of the robbery — and to say publicly how she wants the suspect prosecuted for that robbery, and allegedly for another holdup he allegedly committed a few hours later in Downtown Alton.

After that second armed robbery, in the West Fourth and Belle streets area, Alton police arrested the suspect.

Monday afternoon, Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons charged suspect Richard C. Jones, of the 1800 block of Kennedy Avenue, with three counts of aggravated robbery/indicated he was armed with a firearm.

Third Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli signed the arrest warrant and set bond at $65,000.

Jones was in custody at the Alton Police Department as of Monday afternoon.

An Alton police news release stated several hours after the woman was robbed outside Walgreen’s, two victims reported an unknown male pulled a gun and demanded one of the person’s purse.

“A brief struggle over the purse ensued, with the suspect ultimately releasing the purse and fleeing on foot,” the release stated. “A search of the area for the suspect was initiated. During that search, Detective P.J. Bennett observed a subject matching the suspect’s description fleeing the area in a vehicle. Detective Bennett was able to conduct a stop of the vehicle. The driver, Jones, was positively identified as the suspect in both robbery incidents. Jones was taken into custody at that time. Subsequent investigation led to the discovery of evidence linking Jones to both robberies.”